


Restoration

by Maintechst



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, Gen, Post-Episode: s05e27 Together Alone, Season/Series 05 Spoilers, Spoilers for Episode: s05e27 Together Alone
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-04
Updated: 2019-01-05
Packaged: 2019-10-04 11:28:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17303789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maintechst/pseuds/Maintechst
Summary: After the events that ended Steven's ball on Homeworld, Pearl reforms alone among strangers. What now?SPOILERS for Season 5. Picks up after episode s05e27 Together Alone, canon until that point. Something to fill the time until the next episode comes out!





	1. Reformation

She hit something upon reforming.

As she landed in a fighting stance, short gray leggings and blue tunic emblazoned with a gold star settling around her, Pearl’s eyes sought the source of the collision.

“Amethyst?” she called anxiously. “Stevonnie? Garnet?” 

“They’re not here,” said a voice from the floor.

She looked down and, after a moment, dropped her fighting stance. “Oh,” she said. “Hello.”

There was another pearl lying flat on her back on the cold gray floor. She wore a red skirt with a brown jacket and a blank expression.

“Are they okay?” asked Pearl. Looking around, she added, “Where are we?” They were in a large gray room with no discernable doors or windows.

“Processing,” said another voice behind her. She turned to see two more pearls, one in a purple and blue dress and one in a white shirt and pale green skirt. The one in purple had spoken. She was running her hand back and forth along the wall. “Sorry about the bump there,” she continued. “I was trying to dust you.”

The pearl on the floor snorted.

“I can’t help it,” the purple pearl shrugged. 

“Thanks,” said Pearl. “Are my friends here too?” 

The green pearl shook her head, hands twining nervously behind her back. “Only pearls here. We’re scheduled for _restoration_.” 

Pearl gasped, one hand flying up to stifle it. “No.”

“Yeah,” said the pearl on the floor.

“Oh,” Pearl said, “I knew it could come to this. We can get through this.”

“Of course,” said the purple pearl. “Honestly, I can’t wait. I haven’t been able to stop cleaning for a second since I first formed. When I’m restored, I’ll be…” she smiled. “…at peace.”

“More like erased,” said the pearl on the floor.

“Only the bad parts,” said the purple pearl placidly. She stretched up on her tiptoes to run her hand along a higher section of the wall. “Do you think I want to be like this? Do you want to be like _that_?”

“Here,” said Pearl. She concentrated and reached into her gem, pulling out a dusting cloth. “At least protect your hand.”

She offered it to the purple pearl, who smiled and took it. “Thanks.”

“Whoa,” said the green pearl, hands going still. “Wait a minute. You’re the renegade! The pearl who ran away to Earth and came back with Pink Diamond!”

“Ahh…” said Pearl.

“I’ve heard stories about you! Is it true that your gem can carry an arsenal and that you destabilized thousands of gems on Earth and tried to fuse with your own Diamond?”

Pearl choked, blushing light blue. “Umm… I’m sure the stories are, ah, exaggerated.”

The pearl on the floor raised her head finally. “You don’t look like much.”

“Well, I—” Pearl began, but the green pearl interrupted.

“Oh please tell me it’s true, I wanted so much to be like you! Well not, uh, you know…” She cleared her throat, gesturing as she spoke. “…all of that, exactly. But brave like you, and free like you! What did it feel like?”

“Oh, I—”

Before Pearl could answer, she was interrupted again by the sound of rock grating. A door opened in the solid wall, an agate and two jaspers standing silhouetted in its frame.

“324B.” The agate read from her clipboard without looking up.

“Here!” said the purple pearl, sliding along the wall toward the agate.

“TK42.”

“Here,” said the green pearl softly.

“RD17.”

Silence.

The agate glared from Pearl to the pearl on the floor, who hadn’t bothered to do more than sit up into a slouch.

“RD17,” she said again.

“Here,” said the pearl on the floor. “I guess.”

The agate frowned and made a mark on the clipboard. “PD…” she began, and then her eyebrows rose and she trailed off. She fixed her gaze on Pearl, who straightened her shoulders. “PD01,” the agate said. “It seems the Diamonds have honored me with your restoration. _I_ would have named you a lost cause and marked you for shattering.”

The purple and green pearls flinched.

“But it seems the Diamonds in their clarity have deemed you fit for redemption. I trust you’ll make the most of this extraordinary second chance.” The agate glanced around the room distastefully. “I trust you all will. Now, I hope you’ll take this time to reflect on your true purpose in life—service and dedication. We’ll start in the morning.” She turned and left the room, gesturing at the jaspers to close the door behind her.

“Hey,” said one of the jaspers to Pearl, pausing in the narrow doorway. “I heard you fused with an amethyst on the dance floor at Pink Diamond’s ball.” She winked at Pearl. “Let me know if you want to try a real quartz, hm?” The other jasper smacked her on the shoulder and she pulled the door shut, laughing.

Pearl sighed. “There’s no place like home.”

“What do you mean?” asked the purple pearl, crouching now to wipe away the prints left by the jasper’s boots with her dusting cloth.

“Never mind,” said Pearl. “It’s an Earth thing.” 

Brushing off a wave of homesickness, Pearl took stock of their surroundings. For the most part, smooth, unbroken wall. The locked door. And…

“There’s a grate up there,” she said, pointing. 

“Where?” The purple pearl came to stand next to her, peering upward, scuffing at some dirt on the floor with her toe. “Oh! It must be filthy. But there’s no way I can reach it.”

Pearl smiled. “I don’t know about that.” 


	2. Flight

“Now what do you mean?” asked the purple pearl.

“I’ll tell you,” said Pearl, “but first… tell me about yourselves. You know why I’m here...” She glanced briefly at the green pearl, quickly continuing, “But what about all of you?”

“Oh, well, I’m easy,” said the purple pearl. “I mean of course it’s our duty to clean but I can’t seem to do anything else. It makes me extremely anxious when I try to stop. So my Sapphire suggested I come here and I of course agreed.”

“Of course,” said the pearl on the floor.

“And you?” asked Pearl, turning to her.

The pearl sighed. “Ruby and I…” she bit her lip and said nothing more. 

“I’m sorry,” said Pearl.

The other pearl looked at her. “Did you really do all that stuff? Back on Earth?”

“Um,” said Pearl, “some of it. And what about you?” She turned hurriedly to the green pearl.

“I’ve been told that I’m too enthusiastic,” she said. “I have too many opinions and talk too much and want too much!”

Pearl smiled. “I’ve been told that, too.”

“But it’s different on Earth, right?” the green pearl continued. “I heard everyone there has feelings and opinions and names. Oh! Do you have an Earth name? Can you give _us_ Earth names?”

“I already have a name,” said the pearl on the floor. “Ruby called me Red. I don’t need another name.”

“Nice to meet you, Red,” said Pearl. “On Earth I’m just known as Pearl.” When the others stared at her, she shrugged. “I am… was… the only one there that we knew of, so it was really quite logical.”

The green pearl looked crestfallen. Pearl put a hand on her shoulder. “I can give you an Earth name if you want. How about… Kiki? That’s a lovely Earth name.”

The green pearl—Kiki—beamed. “I love it!”

“My name is 324B,” said the purple pearl. “What would that be on Earth?”

“Well, in the part of Earth where I was living,” said Pearl, “we might call you… Bea?”

The purple pearl, Bea, nodded. “That’s easy to remember.” But then she frowned and bent to the floor, scrubbing vigorously with her cloth. “But we shouldn’t be talking about this. We should be reflecting on our true purpose in life—service and dedication.”

“Sorry,” Kiki said softly, face falling.

Red scoffed. “As if that agate knows a thing about dedication.”

Pearl turned to Kiki. “Listen, some of what you heard _was_ true. On Earth, gems can fuse more freely, with any gem they choose. And we all have feelings and thoughts and opinions. And right now, I think I don’t want to be here when the agate and her guards return in the morning.”

She looked back up at the grate. “And, this may shock you, but I also think we can reach that grate if we fuse.” 

Bea gasped. “Pearls never fuse! Why would they? Plus it’s forbidden!”

“It’s not forbidden on Earth,” Pearl said, turning to look at Kiki. “What do you say?” She held out a hand.

“Oh gosh, I—” Kiki stared at the out-stretched hand. “I want to but… I don’t know how!”

“It’s okay,” said Pearl. “I’ll show you.”

“Oh no, I’m sure I’ll mess it up—”

“I’ll fuse with you,” said Red, finally pulling herself to her feet. Standing, she was slightly taller than Pearl. Her jacket was long and her skirt fell just below her knees. “I’ve done it before.”

Pearl nodded. “You begin and I’ll join you.”

Red walked over to stand below the grate, the other pearls backing away to give her space. She began to sway, arms rising above her head and hips twirling as her dark hair floated around her face. After a moment, Pearl rose to her tiptoes in third position and spun gracefully towards her. They circled each other, spinning out to opposite sides and then crashing back together in a burst of white light. Bea covered her eyes. Kiki couldn’t look away.

Pearl and Red were gone. In their place stood a new pearl, so tall that the others barely came to her knees. She wore a pink tunic and leggings, and her red hair fell in long braids over her shoulders. When she spoke, her voice was strong but measured, rhythmic, as if she were singing. 

“Try contain us as you might,” she murmured, raising one hand to grip the bars of the grate overhead. “There’s none more agile than a pearl in flight.” With a single tug, she ripped the grate out of the ceiling, catching the falling debris neatly in her other hand. 

Kiki and Bea stared, open-mouthed. The giant pearl smiled down at them. “Fear not what you don’t know. Who will be the first to go?”

“Go?” Bea backed away. “This is wrong. You shouldn’t have done that. Where would we even go?”

“To Earth,” Kiki said softly, stepping forward. “Maybe, some day. I’d like that. Anyway, I don’t want to stop thinking or feeling.”

The giant pearl lowered her hand to the floor. Kiki climbed onto it, and then she was rising through the air, nearing the open grate.

The door in the wall slid open, revealing the pair of jaspers. They gaped for a second, and then began to shout, drawing their weapons.

“Run!” whispered the giant pearl, and threw Kiki up through the gate. Half a second later, the jaspers’ destabilizers blazed out in yellow arcs from the doorway.

The giant pearl disappeared. Two white gems dropped to the hard ground.


	3. Fight

Pearl took her time with this reformation. When she came back it was with one small, neat braid in her short pink hair. The star on her tunic was larger.

She tried to land in her fighting stance but there wasn’t enough room. She materialized crouching instead.

She was in a tiny box, solid walls all around except for on one side, which was blocked by an energy field. On the other side, the agate stood peering at her.

“It’s about time,” the agate said. “Though I wouldn’t want to show my face either after a disgraceful display like yours. I understand that you’ve been allowed your wild impulses for 5,000 years, but to pull other gems into your shameful ways?” She shook her head. “It’s quite clear that you need more than restoration. Luckily for you, someone very special has taken an interest in your wellbeing. She’ll be along shortly. I suggest you be on your best behavior when she arrives.”

She left. With the tip of one finger, Pearl touched the energy field experimentally and jerked back from the pain. “Red?” she called. “Kiki? Bea?”

“I’m here,” came Red’s voice. “Not the others, though.”

“Did they get away?”

“Bea was still there. One of the jaspers said they shattered the runner,” Red replied. After a moment, she added, “They lie a lot, though.”  

Pearl rocked back on her heels and closed her eyes, trying to center herself. She wished she could stand up straight. “I’m sorry about all this.”

“S’okay,” said Red. “It was more excitement than we would have had, anyway. Before the end.”

They were quiet after that, until the door opened again.

Pearl stirred and grimaced, trying to rub some feeling back into legs that had gone stiff from crouching. She ignored their new guest until a shadow fell across her cell.

When she finally looked up, she nearly destabilized again.

“White Pearl…?”

“I bear a request from Her Clarity, White Diamond,” White Pearl intoned pleasantly, smiling, her uncracked eye unblinking. “And, a message for Pink Diamond. She requests that Pink Pearl share everything she knows about Pink Diamond’s years on the colony of Earth. She requests that Pink Pearl share this, immediately.”

Pearl raised her chin, trying to hide her nervousness. “I can’t possibly tell you every single thing that happened in 5,000 years.”

“And, a message for Pink Diamond,” White Pearl repeated, as if Pearl hadn’t spoken. She floated forward, and the energy field vanished as if it were nothing more than mist to be waved away.

“What message?” said Pearl warily.

Instead of replying, White Pearl held out one gloved hand. She smiled vaguely, her one eye fixed on a point over Pearl’s shoulder.

Confused, Pearl took her hand.

With deceptively slow strength, White Pearl pulled Pearl out of the cell and toward herself.

“Wait,” Pearl said, “what—”

They exploded in white light. Red saw it even from her cell, facing the opposite direction. Then all she heard was screaming.

It seemed to last for eras. Red covered her ears and slid to the floor.

Eventually, Pearl tore herself away. She lay crumpled on the ground, White Pearl floating above her, smiling as blankly and pleasantly as ever. Pearl flexed her fingers experimentally. She looked down at the star on her tunic and nearly wept. She was herself again.

“White Diamond’s request was not completed,” White Pearl intoned. “White Diamond requests that Pink Pearl share everything she knows about the remaining 1,000 years of Pink Diamond’s time on the colony of Earth. She requests that Pink Pearl share this, immediately.” She held out her hand again.

“Go shatter yourself!” Pearl shouted, still hunched over in residual pain.

The smile on White Pearl’s face flattened, bending slowly into a deep frown. She flipped her outstretch hand to reveal white fire gathering on her palm. Pearl braced for impact.

A yellow arc zipped across the room and crashed into White Pearl. Her expression showed no change as her form cracked and her gray gem rolled across the floor to stop at Pearl’s feet.

“Steven?” Pearl gasped, wrenching herself to her feet.

In the doorway stood Bea, holding a destabilizer. “Er, no,” she said. “Just me.” Her eyes fell on White Pearl’s pearl and she gasped, dropping the destabilizer and sinking to her knees. “Oh no,” she said. “White Pearl? Oh no, no, no. What did I just do? I’m shattered for sure!”

“No,” said Pearl, “you’re not. We’re getting out of here, and you’re coming with us.” Steady now, she crossed to Red’s cell and deactivated the energy field. 

Red emerged and stared at the fallen pearl, rubbing the back of her neck. “Whoa.” She eyed Pearl. “Are… are you okay? That was a lot of… screaming.” 

Pearl’s lips pressed into a hard line. “She didn’t find out anything about Steven,” she said. “That’s what matters. Let’s go.”

“What about…” Bea whispered, looking fearfully toward the fallen pearl. “We can’t be seen carrying her around, and we can’t leave her here or she’ll reform and run right back to…” She stood and peered out the door. “I hear footsteps!”

“She’s right,” said Red. “White Diamond is going to find out and shatter us all. But I’d rather it be later than sooner.” Her gaze slipped into the distance. “Maybe I can find Ruby. Say goodbye.”

“I can buy us time,” said Pearl. “Maybe enough time to leave Homeworld.” She took a deep breath, then crossed back to the fallen pearl. She picked it up gingerly and, in a flash of light, bubbled it and stored it in her gem. "We can release her before we leave." 

“What are you doing?” Bea squeaked. 

“That seems like a bad idea,” said Red.

“We have to go,” said Pearl.

Together they ran silently down the corridor, away from the approaching footsteps. 


	4. Stealth

“How did you even find us?” Red whispered as the pearls crouched together in the shadows beneath a dusty staircase, ears straining for the sounds of the patrols.

“The agate,” Bea said, nervously polishing the underside of the nearest step with the cloth Pearl had given her. “Once I assured her I wanted nothing to do with you and your, um, lifestyle and was dedicated to restoring myself, she started letting me out to clean the rooms between sessions. Today she seemed pretty preoccupied, even excited, so I followed her. And then I heard screaming and I ran and saw you both and I just… panicked.” She blinked. “I panicked! I acted by emotion instead of reason and now we’ll all be shattered for sure.” Her polishing grew faster and faster. “White Pearl! I would never have—! Oh this is all very bad, why did I follow the agate, whatever will my Sapphire think—”

“Hey.” Red grabbed Bea’s hand, stopping its feverish motion. “Keep your voice down.” Bea bit her lip, looking like she was about to cry, and Red softened. She rolled her eyes. “Look, you saved us back there, okay? Or at least you saved Pearl, and…” She looked at Pearl. “…I kind of like her, so. You did a good thing.”

“Thank you, Red,” said Pearl. “I like you, too.”

Red rolled her eyes again, but the corners of her mouth turned up.

 “Oh,” said Pearl, “and look at the bright side, Bea: the whole time we were escaping, you weren’t cleaning!”

 “That’s because I was too anxious even for cleaning,” Bea said, “but thanks.”

“Did you see what happened to Kiki?” Red asked, and Pearl turned to her hopefully, but Bea shook her head.

“I was locked in the room. Later one of the jaspers said—” 

“We heard,” said Red.

“But they lie a lot,” said Pearl, and they all nodded. 

They waited for nightfall to slip through the stairway window before moving again.

“But where will we go?” Bea asked for what seemed the dozenth time.

“As I told you, I need to find out where my friends are being held so we can all get back to the ship and leave before White Diamond comes after us.”

“Maybe they left already,” said Red. “Or got shattered.”

Pearl stopped short, causing Bea to bump into her. “No. We are the Crystal Gems. We always find a way. Together.”

Red raised her hands in a gesture of apology.

Bea sighed. “Kiki would have loved that.”

They crept through the hallways, dodging into doorways and around corners at any sign of an approaching patrol. When they finally located an exit, they found themselves in a walled courtyard with a single gate. As they approached it, a shout rang out from behind the wall: “Attennn-shon!” 

“We’re doomed,” whispered Bea as they all ducked instinctively.

“Face your partners!” the voice continued. “On my mark! Three, two, one… fight!” 

“No,” Red whispered back, eyes alight. “That’s Ruby.” She darted for the gate, ignoring Bea’s strangled squeak, and eased it open a crack so she could peer through. When nothing happened, the others crept up to join her.

On the other side of the wall, pairs of rubies were sparring under the watchful eye of their squadron leader, a ruby whose gem rested at the base of her neck.

Red gestured them back and eased the gate closed again.

“Can you get us through?” asked Pearl.

“I think so,” said Red. Approaching the gate again, she cupped her hands around her mouth and made a long, low whistling sound, like the wind passing through a narrow gap in the surrounding walls. 

“Halt!” roared the voice again. “Line up, troops! I want a hundred pushups, starting... now!” Grumbling filled the courtyard, and then grunts. “Backs up, faces down!” The voice was closer to them now. Bea hid behind Pearl, who settled into her fighting stance.

The gate opened and the leader appeared. Her quick gaze flashed over Pearl and Bea before finding Red, and she grinned, flinging her arms around the pearl. “Keep it up!” she roared for the benefit of the other rubies, without breaking the hug. When she finally let go, she and Red had a fierce, fast signed conversation.

“What are they doing?” Bea whispered.

“I think they’re speaking in combat signals,” Pearl whispered back.

With a quick glance at the gate, ruby and pearl crouched low together, foreheads touching, eyes closed. “That’s right, keep it going!” Ruby roared once more, and then a faint white light rose around them.

“Now what are they doing?” whispered Bea.

“Let’s give them some privacy,” Pearl said with a smile, placing her arm around Bea’s shoulders and turning them both away.

A few moments later, they heard Ruby shouting again, this time from the far side of the fence. “Let’s go, gems! You call those push-ups? I said backs _up_ , heads _down_! Eyes to the ground, soldiers!”

“What are you standing around for?” said Red as Pearl and Bea turned to face her again. “Let’s go.”

They crept through the gate in single file, keeping as close to the wall as possible as they snuck around the sea of rising and falling backs. Ruby smiled and waved at them as she continued to shout, threatening any soldier who bent her back or lifted her gaze with another hundred pushups. 

They were nearly through when Pearl stumbled. Frowning, Ruby shouted louder to cover the noise, and the fugitives disappeared around the next wall.

As soon as they were hidden, Pearl sunk to the ground, clutching her head.

“What is it?” asked Red.

“She’s… awake,” said Pearl.


End file.
